The Shanghai Expo and America's Economic Decline

This year's Shanghai Expo makes the Beijing Olympics look like a Little League tournament, according to one observer, with 70 million people expected. But the US pavilion is being criticized as "bland," "uninspired" and "unimpressive." Does that reveal more than an image problem? In the aftermath of World War II, the US became the world's dominant power, with a middle class built by innovation and manufacturing. With so much now outsourced to the global economy, what's left to show off? Is the Shanghai Expo another signal America can't afford to ignore?

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